§ 17-20. Commercial trucks.

(a)

Definitions.

(1)

Truck is any vehicle designed or operated for the transportation of property including raw materials and having more than six (6) wheels.

(2)

State road or state route means those roads which are defined under of O.C.G.A. § 32-4-1(1).

(3)

Federal road or federal route means those public roads comprised of the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways and the National Highway System, as those terms are defined in Section 103 of Title 23 of the United States Code.

(4)

City is the City of Fitzgerald.

(5)

County is the unincorporated area of Ben Hill County.

(6)

Deviating truck is a truck which leaves and departs from a state road/route, federal road/route, or truck route while traveling within the city.

(b)

Except as set forth in subparagraph (c) hereinafter, it shall be unlawful for any person, business or company to operate a truck on any roadway, street or thoroughfare within the city other than a state road/route, federal road/route, or a roadway designated as a truck route as set forth in article IV of this chapter.

(c)

Exceptions.

(1)

Operation on street for loading and unloading. The operation of trucks upon any street or road where necessary for loading or unloading at a destination point, provided that streets or roads designated as a truck route, state road/route, or federal road/route are used until reaching the intersection nearest the destination point and provided that any deviating truck shall return to such truck route, state road/route, or federal road/route by the shortest, most direct way.

(2)

Emergency vehicles. The operation of emergency vehicles upon any street or public road in the city.

(3)

Public utilities and government vehicles. The operation of any vehicle owned or operated by the city, Ben Hill County, public utility, or contractor or materialman while engaged in repair, maintenance, construction of streets, street improvements, or utilities within the city or Ben Hill County.

(4)

Detoured trucks. The operation of a deviating truck upon any officially established detour.

(5)

Local delivery. The operation of a deviating truck within the city, originating in the city or county for the sole purpose of local delivery within the city or county.

(d)

Any persons violating a provision of this section shall be tried in the Municipal Court of the City of Fitzgerald and, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days.

(Ord. No. 16-1482, § 1, 6-13-16)